So, one more chapter for this, maybe? Anyone interested in Fil? I had this crazy idea to pair him with Sally or perhaps another OC? Message me and let me know. If I get enough requests in my inbox, I will do it.
Katherine hissed in a breath as her wheelchair bounced over the last transition on her way out of the hospital. Her ribs still ached even though several days had passed. She was probably going to have to get used to that because her broken rib wouldn't heal completely for months. She felt the motion of her conveyance come to a stop and then watched as the burly frame of Leem crouched down beside her. The sky was pink and gold behind him from the setting sun. It had the effect of casting his frame in shadow and making it look even larger than usual.
"Are you alright?" He asked with brows raised.
She nodded. Her tummy flip-flopped when their eyes met. Awkward didn't even begin to describe how she had felt every time she interacted with him. She found herself tongue-tied in his presence when she hadn't been before. His dark, jade eyes constricted as he searched her face. A muscle jumped in his jaw.
"Don't fib," he said gruffly, "I can see you're in pain."
"I'll survive," she replied softly, "I just need to go home, make some tea and lie back down."
Leem's eyes flicked away towards the parking lot a moment, then returned hesitantly. "I wasn't plannin' on taking you home. Well, that is, not back to your flat."
Katherine felt a pinch between her brows. "Why? D-Do you think I'm still in danger?"
He shook his head quickly. "No, erm, it's just . . . you need someone ta care for you while you recover. I –ah- I was hoping I could persuade you to come stay with me for a bit at my place near Chigwell."
Katherine swallowed. "That's not necessary."
He scowled. "Nah, it is. Look, it's no bother, Kat. Mycroft granted my request for extended leave so I really won't have anything else to do."
She rubbed her wrists anxiously.
"Extended leave . . . but can you afford that? I couldn't ask you to do that for me."
Leem's lips twitched up in a smirk as he shook his head slowly. "Kat, I'm rich as Croesus. I can afford to retire if I want. Fil's pretty good with his numbers, right? Well, you should see what he's done with our investments."
That was unexpected. "Oh."
She didn't know what to say. He surprised her at every turn. Of course, she had never cared if he had money or not so she had never asked. She assumed he was making similar wages to what she earned.
"Kat?" Leem prodded. "What do you say?"
"I-I just don't want to be an inconvenience-"
"You're not," he cut her off.
"Are you sure? I mean, I'll come but only if you really want me to-"
Leem cursed and rubbed a hand over his head. "I want you there. Stop bein' so stubborn."
Katherine would probably never be able to explain how hard it was for her to accept help. She had felt a burden on her father her whole life after her mother had abandoned them. Even though her dad never said anything to her, she had known from a very early age how stressful it had been on him to raise her alone. Even now, she could still envision his weary form hunched over their small kitchen table as he pulled at his brow while shuffling bills. She felt as if she were repeating the pattern being a pregnant invalid.
Before she could answer Leem, Fil rolled up in a Mercedes and hopped out. His large form strutted in their direction from around the driver's side as if he were quite pleased with himself. He grinned at them boyishly and gestured towards the car.
"Is that the same model Mercedes you mistakenly hired in Bratislava before Holmes set you right?" Leem asked as he stood up.
Fil nodded with a large smile and folded his arms over his chest. "Damn straight. Myc gave me 'is card again. I put it to good use."
Leem shook his head. "You and your rides."
Fil shrugged and glanced at Katherine. "You all ready, Dr. Adams? I packed you a bag from your place but if ya need anything else before we head south, just let me know. I can take you by some shops."
She frowned and turned her gaze to Leem. So much for having a say in whether she stayed with him or not. He skipped over to where she still sat in the wheelchair.
"Now don't get all belligerent," he mumbled in her ear as he pushed her towards the car. "I figured I'd be able ta convince you. Now, I don' want to hear anything more about it. You're mine . . . I mean, you're my responsibility and you're coming home with me."
Even in that moment, Leem's growly words made her belly quiver. Truth was, she wanted to go with him and she was too tired to resist her inclination any further, especially when he scooped her up out of her wheelchair. For a moment, she breathed in the faint woodsy smell of his aftershave. She closed her eyes and savored the weightless feel of being in his arms. She couldn't help but sigh in contentment.
"You're a funny one," Leem murmured into her hair. "I still don't know why you like me so much."
Katherine inhaled his scent again. "Hmm, I don't know. Maybe it's your genetics swimming through my bloodstream and infecting my brain."
He laughed and shook his head as he placed her into the back seat. She reclined back against the soft leather and bit her lip as she looked up at him. He was almost too pretty to look at with his rugged features and faint stubble. He leaned on the open door and the hood of the car as he watched her buckle her belt.
"Are you going to sit back here with me?" She asked nervously.
He glanced towards the front of the car as Fil climbed into the driver's seat. She heard him drum his fingers on the roof of the car. For a moment, his face shuttered. Then, his eyes slid back to hers and he twitched his brows.
"Yeah, what the hell? Just give me a sec to return the wheelchair."
A few short moments later, Leem settled into the seat beside her. Fil wrinkled his nose as he glared at them in the rearview mirror.
"Oy, I'm yer chauffer, am I?" He carped.
"Ah, shut it, Fil. Let's just get goin'," Leem directed. "We 'ave an hour's drive ahead of us."
Leem put his arm around Katherine and drew her head to his shoulder. She relaxed against his solid body in the dark of the backseat and snaked her arms around his torso. She didn't care if he didn't reciprocate her feelings in that moment. She was content to fantasize he was hers.
Leem hadn't been kidding when he had said he and Fil were well off. They actually co-owned an estate with a pair of ancient, thatched roof country houses staggered along a stretching drive behind an iron gate. Despite their age, each house appeared in immaculate condition and lovingly maintained. Fil's home was the first they encountered, a two story white-plastered cottage with spiraling chimneys that flanked either end. The house's diamond-shaped mullion windows twinkled at them as the car's headlamps passed. Katherine couldn't help but gape at its fairytale-like construct.
Leem's home was at the end of the drive and slightly larger, though possibly less ancient. It was more of an L-shaped, raw-cut stone building with larger rectangular patterned windows on the upper and lower floors. However, it too was ridiculously charming with three squat, clay chimneys poking out of the roof. Fil circled into the arcing drive and pulled to a stop out front of a the entry with its massive, weathered timber door.
"Need anything else tonight, bro?" Fil asked once he had deposited Katherine's bag on the front step.
"Nah, thanks, Fil. We'll see ya tomorrow."
Fil gave a wave before scooting into the car. Then, with a heave and a protesting creak, Leem swung open the door to his house for Katherine to enter. The inside of his home was similar to abodes of this style she had been in before with its plastered walls and exposed timbers along the low ceiling. Every piece of hand-made furniture looked cozy and eclectic. At the far end of the combination living, sitting and dining room was a massive stone hearth with a cast-iron forged wood stove sheltered within.
"Do you like it?" Leem's voice rumbled at her back.
Katherine nearly jumped out of her skin. "Oh! Y-Yes, I do. It's exactly what a home should be."
She turned quickly, her face hot. Leem stood very close with his hands in the pockets of his worn-in jeans. His black tee strained across his chest. He seemed an odd fit for the place. He stood a mere foot or so beneath one of the massive beams in the ceiling, yet at the same time, he belonged.
"I'm glad ya think so," he studied her a moment before his brow creased. "Kat, I know getting shot can be traumatizin' and you have every right to be out of sorts but . . . you've been so skittish."
He looked askance a second and cleared his throat. "A-Are you afraid of me?"
Katherine's lips parted in surprise. "Afraid of you? No! Oh, crap, no. I am just, bloody nervous . . ."
He shook his head. "I don't understand. Why would I make you nervy now? What's changed?"
She couldn't help looking down towards her tummy. "Erm, well for one, you have always made me nervous but god, Leem, I'm so terrified of what you're thinking about this baby situation. Like, I feel like I've forced you into something you might not want."
He bobbed his head in thought. "I see."
Her heart palpitated. He stomach lurched. She couldn't read his face.
"You want to know what I really think?" He asked in a low tone.
She braced herself. "Um, I think so?"
He stepped forward and cupped the sides of her jaw. She felt a vibration in his powerful hands as he gazed down at her with his eyes flicking back and forth over her face.
"Katherine," he breathed her full name, "you havin' my baby excites me. Like, in a dirty, dirty kinda way."
Her eyes rounded. "Huh?"
He didn't reply. Instead, his mouth covered hers in a searing kiss. His plush lips insistently opened hers and his tongue stroked inside her mouth. She almost melted from the liquid hotness of it. His velvety probe continue to wreak havoc on her senses before he lifted his head with a groan.
"Christ, I'm sorry," he wheezed. "I don't mean to pounce on you but I've wanted to do that for days."
She licked her lips. Her insides were in raptures. It set off all sorts of tingling in her belly to know he was aroused by her being pregnant.
"S-So, does that mean you're okay with all this?" She whispered.
He nodded and kissed the end of her nose. "I'm ecstatic, Kat. I'm beside myself. I never thought I'd get a chance to be a dad. I never thought I deserved to be one at all, honestly. I know we are just gettin' to know each other, but I feel like I've waited for you my whole life, like you were what was missing. I don't even want to consider things going forward without you now, if that makes any sense at all. Damn! I'm fuckin' blubbering."
Tears stung her eyes as she slipped her hands around his abdomen and laid her head on his chest. His heart thumped steadily in her ear.
She sniffed. "No, you're not. You slay me with your words, Leem. You're going to make me cry."
He kissed her forehead and embraced her gently, careful not to squeeze too hard. "Don't do that. I don't tell you these things to be sad."
She hugged him until she felt a prickling pain along her ribs but she didn't care that they hurt. "I'm not. I'm definitely not."
Katherine closed her eyes and savored the moment. What a journey it had been. In facing death, she had found life. In passing through the lonliest moments of her existance, she had gained companionship and in searching for a destination, she had instead found a path without a horizon.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I love you, Leem," she sighed.
A chuckle rattled his chest. "Just pretty sure? That's not fair, I've loved you since you first got all sassy and made me feel like an utter arse."
She lifted her head. "Truly?"
"Yeah, Kat, 'course. You've been mine all along."